Erhurman meets Averof in New York

Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Thursday met former Disy leader Averof Neophytou in New York.

According to Erhurman’s office, the pair discussed “current issues and developments”, with the meeting having taken place after Erhurman’s first meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday.

Neophytou’s most recent intervention on the matter of the Cyprus problem was made during UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin’s visit to the island last month, in which he said that Cyprus risks “being trapped” if progress on confidence-building measures between the island’s two sides is not achieved.

“The messages from the president’s [Nikos Christodoulides] meeting with Holguin are not encouraging. If we do not move quickly and without hindrance, we risk being trapped again, with the future of the Cyprus issue now becoming extremely uncertain,” he wrote in a post on social media.

Earlier, he had told parliament that he wished to “send a message” to Christodoulides.

“Let him not get stuck on the issue of crossing points, because perhaps a crossing point could pave the way for substantive negotiations on the Cyprus issue,” he said.

Erhurman had after his meeting with Guterres said in this front that “our fundamental view was that solutions to confidence-building measures should be found in Nicosia, rather than through enlarged meetings”.

“We reiterated this point, explaining that finding solutions in Nicosia would demonstrate the commitment of both leaders to improving the daily lives of their people – Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots – and increasing contact between them. Therefore, finding solutions in Nicosia is crucial,” he said of his meeting with Guterres.

No crossing points have been opened between Cyprus’ two sides since the Apliki and Dherynia crossing points were opened in 2019.